Authors, Travels, & Visas: Documenting History (sort of…)

 Authors, Travels, & Visas: Documenting History (sort of…)

by Ben Boulden 

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I’ve always loved a good database. Especially a database where the minutiae of a person’s life becomes tangible. A favorite item are those old handwritten entry visas travelers were required to present at U.S. Customs. These documents are a tantalizing, if incomplete, look at a moment in a person’s life. The why of the travel is usually somewhat mysterious and – along with the traveler’s own handwriting – it is that mystery which makes these old documents fascinating. In the last several months I’ve found three of particular interest.

Hammond Innes

The first is an entry visa by the British adventure writer, Hammond Innes, at New York City. Innes’ birth name was Ralph Hammond Innes (1913–1998). Innes entered the U.S. on September 30, 1962, with an expected exit date of December 29. The visa was issued at the U.S. Embassy in London on August 28, 1962. He flew British Airways from London and provided “120 [E] 79th St New York” as his U.S. address, which is close to Central Park and today appears to be an apartment building. More interesting, is the “Time+Life” written at the end and above the U.S. address because it gives us an idea of what he may have been doing in New York City in 1962.
      In 1963, Time published a juvenile non-fiction work – targeted at ages 12 through 15 – about Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, titled Scandinavia, and written by Innes. Perhaps the legendary adventure writer was in the Big Apple to meet with his editors at Time. But that’s only a guess.

Gavin Lyall

The second and third are entry visas for another legendary British thriller writer, Gavin Tudor Lyall (1932–2003). The first of these was issued June 2, 1961, in London, and Lyall entered the U.S. at New York City on June 12, 1961, with a projected exit date of August 9, 1961. Lyall’s U.S. address is mostly illegible, but “USAF” and “NORAD” are clearly visible. This is interesting because at the time Lyall was the air correspondent for the Sunday Times, and Lyall’s wife – the famous journalist Katharine Whitehorn – has said elsewhere, Lyall had taken a two- or three-month tour of U.S. airbases during the summer before his first novel, The Wrong Side of the Sky (1961), was published by Hodder & Stoughton. Another clue it was an official sort of visit is where Lyall’s flight originated from: “Mildenhall Eng”, which is the location of a large RAF airbase.

The second of Lyall’s entry visas is much less clear than the first (although, ironically, it is more legible). It was issued exactly one year later than the first – June 2, 1962 – at the U.S. Embassy in London. Lyall entered the U.S. at Miami, Florida, on May 5, 1962, with an expected departure date of May 19, 1962. He listed his U.S. address as the “Saxony Hotel, Miami Beach”. Lyall was still with the Sunday Times, but my guess: this entry was for two weeks of fun. 

Check the introductory guide to Hammond Innes’ work from Vintage Lists Presents. It includes a brief biography, a complete listing of his literary works – annotated with some interesting facts – and an annotated listing of all of the films based on his books. Take a look at Amazon’s page for The Complete Hammond Innes.